A walk around Bury Ditches - an Iron Age Hill Fort in Shropshire

The sun shone hazily and the clouds drifted by the hand gliders on the distant crag of a Shropshire hill and the wings of patrolling buzzards were tickled by the thermals. Time to get out again with Little Bird, Sweep and the dogs. Time to explore this new home of mine in rural Shropshire in our first spring here.

A sign I had seen on winter journeys across the county was for Bury Ditches, tucked away between Bishop's Castle and Clun in south Shropshire. Sweep despite living nearby had never been so it was good to tread new territory together in his homelands. The Ditches are an Iron Age hill fort dating back to 500BC and a superb example of a multivallate fort which is one with two or more ramparts as defence.

The fort was once all pine plantation until a great storm in the 1970's blew down many trees revealing the details of the ditches and ramparts and so the Forestry Commission now manage as a historic site.

We walked down a woodland path past carved tree folk and information to guide us as to how the fort would have looked. The dogs pulled eagerly and Little Bird tromped through heather lined paths to the summit of Sunnyhill where the oval lines of the fort can clearly be seen and walked along. Views all around were amazing, across to the Long Mynd, the Clee Hills and across to the Stiperstones back home.

The place has an ethereal feel to it, treading on a landscape shaped so long ago, what lies beneath these folds in the land. Folklore says that gold is buried here by fairies and  the lucky finder will discover one day as there is gold wire attached to the bounty.

But for us the treasure will be found here in late summer, plentiful purple winberries for gorgeous pies and the reward of fantastic views each season.

Forestry Commision Bury Ditches

Joining in with Country Kids to share my tales from a new life in rural Shropshire.

Exploring Countryfile Live 2016

So...I won some tickets to Countryfile Live on Twitter with Stanfords (@StanfordsTravel ) the other week and yesterday was the big day that we headed down to Blenheim Palace in Oxfordshire for the event. 

Here is a little tour around and the highlights of our day. Come through the grand wooden gates and into the showground.....

 

Into the Village Green for a vintage funfair where I spotted a mobile befry. If you didn't know from my constant twittering, well I'm a bell ringer. 7 months in and weekly practising a Touch of Bob Doubles or Grandsire but could I ring these bells from the Lichfield Diocesan Mobile Belfry, absolutely not. Some rounds and that rope went flying. Very embarrassing.

 The surroundings aren't too shabby eh? You could pay extra and go and explore Blenheim Palace too but we didn't as there's too much to see at the show.
Then it was time to go and find some animals for a farm mad little boy! Adam's Farm was a highlight of our day where we learnt all about the different breeds of farm animals. From watching mummy pig give in and crash out on the straw for her hungry piglets to watching a milking machine, we came away full of new information and will start learning about how farms work as part of our home education programme. 

A favourite of mine! Indian Runner Ducks

It was super to see rare breeds such as the Suffolk horse, chestnut in colour and a muscular body adept at traditional farm work. Historic breeds are really interesting to me, like the white cattle of Chillingham that we encountered earlier in the year. The Suffolk horse dates back to the 16th century but the population fell after WW2 and so the Suffolk Horse Society are helping breeders to increase numbers and raise awareness of this majestic horse.

Then it was time to cuddle a cow, well a model one anyone but I'm sure given the chance my boy would hug the real thing.

 Then it was off for food and drink - so much to choose from, we liked the street food area and had some delicious onion bhajis and vegetable samosas, obligatory summer drink of Pimms. We found a quiet area for some sensory downtime for Little Bird who has autism and relaxed on a bank underneath some trees - good fortune on two accounts for a brief downpour sheltered us and also Adam Henson came strolling past and we said good afternoon to him. Which brings me onto the fun we had spotting the Countryside presenters, after Adam we saw John Craven, Anita Rani and I said hello to Matt Baker who looks a bit startled :) So onwards around the rest of the show with tractors, crafts, clothing to buy, wellies to wang and the beautiful surrounding to scenery to take in. The striking River Glyme was the setting for a spot of fishing, canoeing and kayaking and there is a pond dipping area too, the activity that set the seeds of ecology alight in me as a child. 
A Wildlife Zone gave me plenty of ideas to take back home, from herbs planted in palettes and a chat about wildlife ponds with one of the keen and knowledgeable Wildlife Trust helpers. A wildlife Olympics was busy involving the children in games and the skulls of British Mammals was popular with young explorers. My son said they were dinosaurs :) 

Also I am now in love with ferrets, so cute snuggling into each other and extremely playful. 

A fantastic day out and it's on for the rest of the weekend if you're interested in going. Here's a final little walk around...... can't wait until next year now but in the meantime I have a head full of the countryside and some great ideas of things to do and explore.

Bodnant Garden in North Wales

 The glory of the spring garden in Wales, alongside the River Conwy and with a snow tipped view of Snowdonia, Bodnant Garden was the perfect day trip for us all and especially a recently poorly little boy. Fresh air and fluffy clouds, tulip blooms and trumpeting daffodils, all an excellent antidote to tummy pains and stress. 

80 acres to explore from terraces to glades and a thundering waterfall and mill 'race' in the dell. It's a beautiful garden to explore and this year is like a dreamy watercolour wash of azalea and rhododendron and a lushness of emerging green perennials and exquisite hellebores. The boys had lawns and paths to run around and plenty of stones in pockets picked up to plop into the cascading waters. View points are aplenty and there are some areas where my hand tightly gripped Little Bird for fear of him rolling over the edge into the fir tree abyss. I was happier back on formal bed territory with the tulips. 

A surprise was the family mausoleum, called the Poem that you could peep through the door of into a marble decorated room filled with memorials of the previous inhabitants of the estate. Of course this appealed to me and my church/graveyard tendencies, inside was a chair - who for I wonder?

Back in the land of the living, it was a picnic and tomfoolery and a promise to come back and visit in the summer to see how the gardens are flourishing.